On second go-around, Quincy rejects controversial pub

Tuesday

Aug 28, 2012 at 12:01 AMAug 28, 2012 at 9:13 AM

After hearing pleas to uphold morality and set a proper tone for a new Quincy Center, the city’s license board reversed course on Tilted Kilt, a pub chain that churchgoers opposed because of the revealing uniforms worn by its waitresses. Attendees at Tuesday’s board meeting roared in approval after the board denied the pub a license on a 3-2 vote.

Jack Encarnacao

After hearing pleas to uphold morality and set a proper tone for a new Quincy Center, the city’s license board reversed course on Tilted Kilt, a pub chain that churchgoers opposed because of the revealing uniforms worn by its waitresses.

Attendees at Tuesday’s board meeting roared in approval after the board denied the pub a license on a 3-2 vote. The board had unanimously approved the pub proposal in July, but it scheduled a new hearing after discovering a notification error by Tilted Kilt’s attorney.

Deacon Paul Lewis of St. John The Baptist Church, which is near where Tilted Kilt wanted to open in the former Outback Steakhouse on the Parkingway, said a pub with “scantily clad” waitresses so close to the church would be “a slap in the face.”

“It’s like putting a pork chop in front of a mosque,” Lewis said. “It’s counter to what we teach. It’s counter to what we believe. ...This is a distortion of why God gave us sex.”

The testimony swayed board members Joseph Shea and Jay Duca: They switched their votes. Police Chief Paul Keenan, who didn’t attend the July hearing, also voted against granting Tilted Kilt a license. Andrew Scheele and Joseph Barron voted in favor of granting the license, as they did in July.

Duca cited a section of state law that requires license boards to make a finding that an alcohol-serving establishment within 500 feet of a church would not have a detrimental effect on the church.

“It places the burden on this board to determine that premises are not detrimental to the educational and spiritual activities of the church,” Duca said, “so based on the testimony that I’ve heard tonight, I’m not able to support this.”

Tilted Kilt attorney Edward Fleming said he and his client will meet to discuss their next step.

“We didn’t anticipate that they would outright deny a license ... especially when the opposition was almost entirely based on the attire of their wait staff,” Fleming said. “Obviously we’re disappointed that the board couldn’t see thorough that.”

Fleming said Tilted Kilt can appeal the decision to the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission or file a legal appeal in court. He said he made a mistake in not notifying St. John of the initial Tilted Kilt proposal, and he said it was unintentional.

The proponents were Ashook Patel, a hotel manager who lives in Lexington, and Gordon Hyde, a native of Ireland who founded the Waxy O’Connor’s pub chain, which has several locations, including ones in Lexington and Foxboro.

Fleming told the board that Tilted Kilt is “one of the fastest-growing franchises in the country” and targets men ages 35 to 65. Founded in Las Vegas in 2003, Tilted Kilt has locations across the country, including one in Connecticut.

The testimony before the board Tuesday included righteous indignation, concerns about noise, and criticism of the board and its notification procedures.

“I think it’s pretty obvious that a significant portion of the community is in opposition and would be deeply offended by having this establishment,” said the Rev. John Culp, pastor of Fort Square Presbyterian Church. “I don’t sense this is a community that’s desperate for businesses. …Jesus once famously asked, ‘What shall it benefit a man if he gained the whole world and lost his soul?’ I think you can ask a similar question of a community.”

The testimony also took on a political tinge. City Councilor Brad Croall spoke passionately against the proposal, and Councilor Kirsten Hughes wrote in opposition. Former mayoral candidate Anne Mahoney criticized the license board for not asking more questions about Tilted Kilt before its July vote.

“We ask tons of questions of tons of people who come up before you for a license, but yet we ask nothing about this national chain that’s going to change the face of Quincy?” she said.

Not all speakers were opposed. The director of the Quincy Chamber of Commerce wrote a letter in support of the pub, as did Commonwealth Avenue resident Charles Kalell, who said he does not want to see the city have to fight a license denial in court.